Ashton Kutcher takes his fight to end child exploitation to Capitol Hill

By Sharnaz Shahid

February 16, 2017

Ashton Kutcher took his fight to end child sexual exploitation to Capitol Hill on Wednesday (Feb. 15). During a senate hearing, the 39-year-old actor urged "society and government" members to take a stance and defend the vulnerable. "I've been on FBI raids where I've seen things that no person should ever see," he explained. The Hollywood star - who co-founded the organization Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, which builds computer software in an attempt to stop human trafficking - revealed how his team received a call from the Department of Homeland Security asking for help to find a seven-year-old girl who was the victim of abuse.

TAP TO VIEW GALLERYAshton Kutcher urged US law officials to support efforts to help bring an end to child sexual exploitation

He added: "She'd been abused for three years and they'd watched her for three years and they could not find the perpetrator, asking us for help. We were the last line of defence. An actor and his foundation were the potential last line of defence. That's my day job and I'm sticking to it."

These comments to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee comes after a huge backlash for websites from carrying adverts promoting the sexual exploitation of children. "Technology can be used to enable slavery, but it can also be used to disable slavery," explained Ashton. The star, who has two young children with wife Mila Kunis, runs Thorn which produces web-based tools to help police officers identify and locate victims of trafficking. He continued: "The right to pursue happiness for so many is stripped away... it's abused, it's taken by force."

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